Caretaker Report – Week 15 "Deck the Halls"

March 4, 2011 | 1581 Views

The day has finally arrived. It’s a crisp clear day, a perfect day for finding that perfect tree. The only thing missing was a coat of snow blanketing the forest floor, I’ll have to settle for the recent snowfall on the distant hills.

Armed with saw, clippers and camera we head out to get our tree. Mike takes the lead as he remembers seeing some smaller pines in a clearing not too far away. Forty-five minutes later we are still rambling about, our necks now beginning to ache from looking upwards and our eyes straining to seek out that tree which we had come for. We decide to head back, empty handed.

Here we are surrounded by tens, hundreds, thousands of acres of forest and we can’t find a single perfect Christmas tree? After lunch I decide to walk along the beach to see what I could find. Everything we came across inland was way too big. I would love to have a twenty foot pine but really how would I reach the top to put the star on. I meander along the beach enjoying the weather , looking for treasures that have washed up as well as sizing up a suitable vessel to hang all my homemade decorations on.

Yet another wintery blue sky day, well at least the weather has been absolutely fantastic, if I wasn’t so preoccupied with finding this……tree…..than I might have taken the kayak out for a paddle.

Today is the day. No matter what I will return with a tree.

It’s a “Charlie Brown” tree. Go ahead and laugh, I see you smirking so go ahead.

Yes it’s a very mournful dispiriting looking little tree. What can I say, we tried. You’d think finding a tree in these boundless acres of wilderness would be a simple task.

It may not be what I had envisioned but years from when I say to Mike, ”remember our Charlie Brown tree?” we’ll chuckle and instantly recall our Christmas at the “Outpost.”

I can’t say for sure but I think this is the first time that the Outpost has been adorned with boughs of pine, bowls of pinecones and an odd assortment of my homemade decorations.